Electromagnetically driven diaphragm pump
First Claim
1. A pump comprising a housing, a pump chamber in said housing defined by at least one wall, an inlet area having a valve allowing fluid to be received in said chamber, an outlet area having a valve allowing fluid to be discharged from said chamber, an armature, a plunger carried by said armature, a stop surface adjacent to one end of said plunger, means to bias said plunger toward said stop surface, a diaphragm carried by the other end of said plunger and sealing said chamber, and an electromagnetic coil which when activated moves said armature to overcome the force of said means to bias so that said diaphragm is moved into said chamber without engaging said wall to discharge fluid through said outlet area, and upon deactivation of said coil, said means to bias moves said plunger toward said stop surface without engaging said stop surface to draw fluid through said inlet area and into said chamber.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A pump (10) has a housing which forms a pump chamber (17) having a wall (18). Inlet and outlet valve assemblies (19, 20) communicate with the chamber (17) and, respectively, allow fluid to be received in, and discharged from, the chamber (17). An armature (27) carries a plunger (28) and is reciprocatably moved by an electromagnetic coil assembly (25). A coil spring (44) biases the plunger (28) toward a stop surface (41) positioned adjacent to the plunger (28). Upon activation of the coil assembly (25), the plunger. (28) is moved against the force of the spring (44) such that a diaphragm (31) carried by the plunger (28) moves into the chamber (17) without engaging the wall (18) to discharge fluid through the outlet valve assembly (20). When the coil assembly (25) is deactivated, the spring (44) moves the plunger (28) toward the stop surface (41) without allowing it to engage the stop surface (41) to draw fluid in through the inlet valve assembly (19). In another embodiment, a second coil spring (45) is positioned so as to bias the plunger (28) away from the stop surface (41) to prevent the plunger (28) from engaging the stop surface (41) during priming of the pump (10).
31 Citations
15 Claims
- 1. A pump comprising a housing, a pump chamber in said housing defined by at least one wall, an inlet area having a valve allowing fluid to be received in said chamber, an outlet area having a valve allowing fluid to be discharged from said chamber, an armature, a plunger carried by said armature, a stop surface adjacent to one end of said plunger, means to bias said plunger toward said stop surface, a diaphragm carried by the other end of said plunger and sealing said chamber, and an electromagnetic coil which when activated moves said armature to overcome the force of said means to bias so that said diaphragm is moved into said chamber without engaging said wall to discharge fluid through said outlet area, and upon deactivation of said coil, said means to bias moves said plunger toward said stop surface without engaging said stop surface to draw fluid through said inlet area and into said chamber.
Specification